Friday, July 8, 2011

CSA Newsletter 07.08.11

Welcome to the first CSA distribution of the 2011 farm season. Farmer Matt was busy this winter researching new vegetable varieties and deciding what the crop plan would look like this year. As a result there are many new and interesting things happening here on the farm. March and April were busy in the greenhouse and the spring rains seemed never-ending, but here we are in July and the fields are looking gorgeous. The crew has been working so hard and it’s showing as multiple crops are ready for harvest. The weekly seedings are humming along and the fall carrots and rutabagas went into the ground yesterday. We’ve had some exciting additions to the farm this year, a new tractor AND a baby girl! Louisa Marguerite was born June 5th and according to her big brother, Maceo, she is also going to be a farmer Your box this week includes:

Our featured vegetable this week is the Garlic Scape. Maybe some of you have never had them, if so you’re in for a treat. Scapes are the shoots that grow off of hard neck varieties of garlic. When they’re young and tender they look like curly pig tails with a tight flower bud on top. Farmers harvest them so they don’t drain nutrients from the garlic bulbs. There are many ways to eat them, think of scapes as a rowdy alternative to garlic. It’s grilling season and tossing the scapes with EVOO and salt and pepper for 2 minutes is excellent. Finish them off with a little more salt and lemon zest, delicious. They have the consistency of asparagus. Other tasty ideas are chopped on pizza, sautéed in stir fry, and scape pesto will blow your mind during the cold winter. Enjoy!

Sparrow Arc Farm

Sparrow Arc Farm is a family farm, cropping 40 acres of vegetables annually. We market to restaurants, in Boston and NYC, and offer CSA shares in Boston at various pick up locations. We are an uncertified organic facility, meaning we follow the USDA organic standards but choose not to certify due to the fees and paperwork, which are a considerable obstacle for a smaller, family-owned business and our markets do not require it.